European stocks end slightly higher, stretch winning run to 9 sessions

By Sara Sjolin

Published: Oct 3, 2017 12:26 pm ET

Pound slides after disappointing construction data

Spanish stocks are still lower after Sunday’s independence referendum in Catalonia.

European stock markets closed with small gains Tuesday after trading in tight ranges, as investors absorbed developments in Catalonia after the weekend’s chaotic independence vote.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index
XX:SXXP-0.42%
rose 0.2% to end at 390.72, holding near its highest level since mid-June and rising for a ninth straight session.

“European stock markets are subdued as the German market is closed today as the nation celebrates Unity Day,” said David Madden, a CMC Markets UK analyst, in a note. “Traders in the rest of Europe are content to standstill while the biggest economy in the Continent is on holiday.”

The euro on Tuesday was up a bit against the dollar, fetching $1.1759, compared with $1.1734 late Monday in New York.

“The political risks have been gradually increasing in the past two weeks; it started with the German Federal Election, which led to the surge of the far-right, and now Catalonia’s independence vote,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, in a note.

“Politics has clearly overshadowed the economic improvement in the eurozone, and this will likely remain the case for the rest of the week,” he added.

Police Clash With Catalan Referendum Voters Leaves Hundreds Injured

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Clashes erupted between police and Catalan voters as they cast ballots in an independence referendum outlawed by Spain. Hundreds of people were injured, local authorities said, as Spanish police dragged people from polling stations and fired rubber pellets at crowds. Photo: Edu Bayer for The Wall Street Journal

Other indexes: France’s CAC 40 index
FR:PX1-0.52%
rose 0.3% to finish at 5,367.41, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 index
UK:UKX-1.28%
tacked on 0.4% to end at 7,468.11.

Economic updates: The U.K.’s construction sector unexpectedly contracted in September, with the construction purchasing managers index falling to 48.1 from 51.1 in August. It’s the first time the index has fallen below the crucial 50 threshold, which separates contraction from growth, in 13 months, according to publisher of the report IHS/Markit.

“A shortfall of new work to replace completed projects has started to weigh heavily on the U.K. construction sector. Aside from the soft patch linked to spending delays around the EU referendum, construction companies have now experienced their longest period of falling workloads since early-2013,” said Tim Moore, associate director at IHS Markit, in the release.

The pound
GBPUSD+0.78%
slipped after the report, to buy $1.3252 compared with $1.3277 on Monday.